Decisions
by Ella Press
Summary: Written for the Girls Who Run This World Challenge. Ginny faces her new reality, but doesn't forget who she loves. O/S, Girl Power!


**Decisions**

Written for the **Girls Who Run This World Challenge**

Rules: Write a story using the prompts given, and give your female character _**power**_!

Prompts: **Ginny**, **Lea Michele's **_**Get it Right**_, **Apricot**.

The original story was a little modified by me. You'll see what I mean when you get to the end. It's all changed so the story can flow better.

And I took the meaning of the song and included it in the story, instead of using the actual lyrics.

Disclaimer: J. K. Rowling is my writing goddess and owns Harry Potter and Co. I just wrote this fic for a challenge, and to improve my writing skillz. (Yes, my _skillz_.)

_So I throw up my fist  
>Throw a punch in the air<br>And accept the truth  
>That sometimes life isn't fair<em>

_I'll send out a wish and I'll send out a __prayer__  
>And finally someone will see<br>How much I care_

**Get It Right, Lea Michele, Glee**

I knew from the moment we started dating seriously, that something like that would happen eventually. Maybe I even expected it. I knew him all too well not to have thought about it at least once when we were still together. It was a predictable reaction, really, and nothing I said or did would manage to persuade him otherwise. He's too stubborn.

But, thinking back on it, I think maybe I should have acted differently. If I had put all my efforts into going with him on that madness of a journey, not even a Petrifying Hex would have been able to stop me from going with him, my brother and Hermione.

Weeks have gone by, and still, there's no news of him. I'm always alert, always listening to the radio, or reading the paper; because, although the media has been seized by the Death Eaters, I know his capture –or worse, his death- is something they'd surely celebrate and share with the world, destroying our hopes in the Boy Who Lived.

We thought Hogwarts was one of the last safe places on Britain. We thought wrong. With Dumbledore gone, Voldemort's followers have taken over the castle, and have managed to make our lives here impossible. We no longer study Defensive Magic, "that's for the weak", as they say. Instead, we're taught how to use the Unforgivable Curses, and are forced to endure them if we refuse to practice them in "class". Still, the few Muggleborns who remain in school are constantly used as our Guinea Pigs in these lessons. I reckon the Death Eaters won't let them leave for exactly this reason, as they've kicked the rest of them out, deeming them "unworthy of receiving magical education".

"This cannot go on like this," Neville said one afternoon. He whispered, actually. Even the tiniest corners of the castle were being watched.

_We were pretending to be studying for an upcoming Dark Arts exam in the __Great Hall, so we could be with Luna, Cho, Dean and Parvati, as we weren't all in the same House, and bringing people who weren't from your House into your Common Room wasn't something we could keep doing anymore. Death Eaters lined the walls, but we'd thrown a Silencing Spell around us, and as long as we kept acting as if we were actually studying, they wouldn't bother us. They had better things to do than deal with us kids. _

"_I agree," Cho said. "The teachers can't do anything; it's too risky for them. If the few good ones left are banned from the school, we'd be completely defenseless. And we're the eldest students here; it's up to us to defend the little ones." She fell quiet then, and her eyes got teary and big. I knew what she was thinking; I'd heard what had happened from someone else. Apparently, a second year boy had run (and by run, I mean, he was running away from a teacher, only to be found by another) into one of the Death Eater teachers and Cho (who'd been walking by, then) had tried to reason with the wretched man. But as soon as he learned what they boy had done, he wouldn't have it, and as a punishment, the boy had to suffer five whole minutes under the Cruciatus Curse, while Cho had been forced to look, without being able to stop it. _

"_I say we do something now, before it's too late__ and we're all dead or worse," Dean said. "This is exactly why Ha-" He stopped himself, his mouth hung open, and looked at me._

"_What were you going to say? That this is exactly why Harry taught us how to fight?" I said._

_I could feel their eyes on me. Harry was a subject that was avoided whenever I was in the room, and I was fed up with that. _

"_You can say what's on your mind, I won't get mad, or sad, or anything."_

_Dean looked at me straight in the eye; his brow furrowed, as if waiting to see if what I was saying was the truth or if I was going to break down right then and there, with everyone watching. He quickly looked away, to avoid bringing too much attention on ourselves._

_I hadn't cried since Harry had left, so why should I start now? It was absolutely pointless. _

_When he decided I wasn't going to start crying, he carried on. _

"_Well, yeah, that's what I meant. Harry taught us how to fight back, so why shouldn't we?"_

"_You're right, Dean, but what's your plan?" Parvati spoke to her schoolwork. Her eyes didn't leave her papers. "They've got us cornered. There's not a single place in the castle that isn't being watched and monitored by the Death Eaters." Her soft voice reached my ears as I looked up at the end of the Hall, and saw two girls entering through the huge oak doors. One was carrying the other, who seemed to be in pain, and took her to the Ravenclaw table, to sit her down. The Death Eater nearest them chuckled. I felt my blood boil in my veins. _

"_We're using the Room of Requirement," I said.__* I didn't give a shit who was watching us; I made them all look at me and understand exactly what I was saying. "That will be our headquarters. I don't care about anything else anymore. This is crazy and we're _going to stop it."

Every day we welcome someone new into the Room, which just keeps getting bigger according to our needs. We have everything we need here.

As soon as our decision was made, I went directly to the floor where I'd find the Door to the Room. I made sure no one followed me and no one was around. Luckily, the Death Eaters assigned to this part of the castle appeared to be needed elsewhere, so my walk to the Door was relatively easy.

I asked the Room exactly what we needed. And that was what we got.

That first night I spent it alone. We'd agreed that the rest would come one at a time, or maybe two a day, but no more, so as not to raise suspicions so quickly.

The Room received me with its Doors wide open, so to speak. It was a cozy little thing at first, only designed for me and a few others, with a bunch of beds on one side, and a sort of living area on the other. I sat on the bigger sofa, and took an apricot that had magically appeared on the coffee table, as I'd been thinking that it would be nice to have one then. I peeled it, and took a bite.

It's weird how that fruit can sometimes be bitter if it hasn't matured enough. Such a small thing, leaving a bittersweet taste in your mouth after a bite or two.

I thought about a lot of things. I thought about my brothers, those whom I had not seen in a while; but I especially thought of Ron. At least he did get to be with the one he loved, even if he was too much of a coward to tell her. He'd be there to protect her, something I could not do, and something I wished I could. But that wasn't the time to think like that. We had to make sure we were ready to take the punches that I was sure were coming our way.

Still, the picture of Harry in some far away land, doing Merlin knew what was too much. I'd been pushing it back for too long, and now, it was threatening to overwhelm me. I wished I could be with him, just to _be there_ _for_ _him_…

But that wasn't how he wanted it, and I respected that. Now that I think about it better, and I put myself in his shoes, I understand him. I'd be in the way, not really helping him. I'd be his distraction, and, honestly, I wouldn't have been able to promise to stay behind if he asked me to, if danger knocked on our door, because that wasn't in my nature.

I wouldn't want me there either.

He told me he couldn't be with me anymore, and I accepted it. He never said he didn't _want_ to be with me.

"We've got two new girls today," Neville tells me. "Selena and Rose. They're cousins and best friends, don't want to be separated," he whispers into my ear.

I look at them. They can't be older than fourteen. I ask them their age, and they tell me that they _are_ fourteen, as I'd thought. They look scared, but they try not to show it, and this makes me a bit proud and a bit concerned. Their hands grip the other's tightly. Their uniforms tell me they're Hufflepuffs.

"Hi girls, how about we find you two a bed?" I say. They smile weakly, and nod unperceptively. "Cho! Could you help Selena and Rose find a bed, please?" I call over the crowd.

Our numbers are large now. A couple hundreds are sheltered in the Room at this point. Too many to handle them all, but at least we're safe.

I'd just love to know if they are alive. If _he_ is.

I know my place is here, but I still can't stop thinking about going out there and finding them. Even if it goes against my better judgment, I still like to imagine it. Because I know I won't do it. I couldn't. So imagining is all I have left.

After the new girls get settled, Cho walks over to me.

"Could you go over to Aberforth's and bring back supplies?" she asks me. Strangely, the only thing the Room doesn't provide us with is food.

"Sure," I say. "I'll get Fred and George and go."

"I'll go too," says Neville. "I've wanted to ask Abe something since yesterday."

"Okay, you go first, while I look for my brothers. You know how Abe gets if we all go together." I roll my eyes.

"Yeah," Neville laughs. "I'll warn him about you coming." And he turns and leaves.

Being outside the Room of Requirement is always a challenge. You try not to be seen or heard. You try to overhear some news about your family's whereabouts by listening in on the Death Eaters' conversations. You try to talk to the few remaining real teachers, and inform them that everyone missing is safe, but without telling them exactly where you are. Just in case something happens to them. But they know this, and don't ask for anything more than what you give them.

Sometimes you get called back to the Room because they've got news to tell you. But when the golden coin in your pocket burns, you know it only means one thing.

We don't even make it all the way to the Hog's Head before we feel our pockets burning. We run back to the Room, Fred and George ahead of me, and I don't exactly know how I feel. Strange, maybe.

Happy? Definitely.

The portrait swings forward and the hole opens onto the Room. Fred and George climb down without difficulty, and then it's my turn to walk into the Room that's been my shelter for months.

If I stop and overanalyse it, I'm sure something will go wrong, even if I don't want it to. So I just walk forward and into the light of the Room. I can hear everyone fussing over this new development, and I know I'm not imagining it.

Before I've taken three full steps, I see him.

He's tired, I can tell. But he's as strong and beautiful as ever. Maybe even more so.

My heart swells up at the sight of him, and I smile.

He smiles back at me.

And I remember right then how much I love and missed seeing that smile on his face.

***Remember what I wrote at the beginning, about me changing up the original story? I know Neville's the one who thinks about going back into the Room or Requirement, but I needed it to be Ginny's idea, to show how much in charge she is. And of course, not everything's the same as the book, because we're not told the story from the DA's POV, so this is just my imagination! **

**I hope you enjoyed it, though!**

**Review, please! Reviews make my day :D**


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